Check out the Cheapass Games range of board and card games. They concentrate on game play and contain only the necessary custom components, in order to keep the prices down. You then add the other game components that you probably already own at home.

Spiel Des Jahres (Game of the Year)

In the German language Spiel Des Jahres means Game of the Year. Each year (since 1978) a board game that has been published in Germany within the past year is given the honor of being awarded the title of Spiel Des Jahres. In more recent years another two awards are also given annually for the Children's Game of the Year (Kinderspiel des Jahres) and the Connoisseur's Game of the Year (Kennerspiel des Jahres).

What is a board game ?

Well our definition
is : a fun, entertaining and often competitive activity that uses
at least one board usually laid flat horizontally, with markings
(images or text) on it. Elements will be placed on the board(s)
during the game with their position on the board integral to the
game. The game elements could be counters, figures, cards, tokens,
pegs or coins to name just a few. Quite often, though not always,
a random factor like a dice forms an essential element of the game,
though this is often rolled alongside the board rather than on it.
A set of rules defining the game play will instruct players how
to set the game up, how to play it and the winning conditions or
the end of the game.

Do you know ?

which action movie released in the Summer of 2012, is (loosely) based and named after a popular board game ?

...Battleship, is the name of the movie, which is very loosely based on the board game Battleship. It features 5 ships trying to take out another 5 ships and vice versa ... and then along comes a third player (but we'll let you watch the movie). No doubt a game based on the movie, based on the game will be released too!

what is the oldest board game ?

...Senet is believed to be the oldest board game, which has been
found in an Egyptian burial tomb, estimated to date back to 3500 BC.
The board consists of 10 columns x 3 rows of squares, with pawns as
playing pieces. Historians have made educated guesses as to the rules
of play (as none have been found), which has resulted in a number
of different rules sets being constructed for the game.

where in the UK do humans annually play the part of actual chess
pieces ? and why ?

...fans of the
1960's television series The Prisoner, get together every year in
Portmerion in Wales for an annual convention, as this is where most
of the filming of The Prisoner is set. One of the activities sees
fans dressed up as characters from The Prisoner playing a game of
human chess, like they did in the aptly named episode 'Checkmate'.
The chess board comprises of solid white squares and empty squares
laid out on the grass, with the human chess pieces standing on and
moving between the square.......'Be seeing you!'

which game was played at the largest board game tournament ?

...the largest
board game tournament comprised of 1,214 players, playing chess
in Krasnoyarsk's Central City Park, Russia. They played on the 2nd
June in 2007 with 607 chess boards and 19,424 game pieces!

which game was played in the longest board game session ?

...the longest board game session lasted 50 hours. A group of 6
Canadians headed up by Martin Phillips-Hing played the Settlers
of Catan board game along with the expansion Cities and Knights.
They played a full 12 games and finally gave in partway through
the 13th game. This board game marathon started on the 16th of January
2009 and finished on the 18th January.
I'm sure we've played games of Risk that lasted longer than that
- though we must admit we did sleep in between gaming sessions.